Nice! I want to hear all the Chord stuff eventually, as Mojo 1 was pleasantly rich(not so much Mojo 2).
I think Holo Spring 3 KTE/May L1/L2 seems like a good target, without DDC needed. Unless I can find Holo May KTE at a low enough price. Seems like May KTE is either significantly better than Spring 3 KTE(Passion for Sound), or only 1-3% better(GoldenSound, New Record Day). Not sure I could even hear the differences, with whatever not-entirely-TOTL amps and headphones I will have.
Hey guys, I need your help to get out of the weeds. @Veritas knows that I’m too in my head atm. I am currently looking for an IA to pair with Harbeth 30.2XD. On top of my list is a Luxman 509X. My buget is around $6500 used. I just missed out on one with US dealer, 2ish years old, and checked all the boxes. I’m looking for an IA with dynamics, but my eyes always wander to tubes or class a. I almost made an offer on an L-590AXII. Several years ago I heard the 30.2s with a LM-845 (22w) and liked many qualities (midtone and treble). I had a very sweet setup with El-34s in the past and would like a new expeience.
I am looking for an IA that will power the Harbeths (85db) with contol, has good timbre (especially in the vocals), and want to avoid anything too neutral or fatiguing. Im not sure how far i can push the soft dome tweeters before they become fatiguing. I’m okay with waiting for the right 509X, but US models dont show up very frequently. I’d like to broaden my search. Going to get a new DAC to work with IA and speaker combo. Appreciate your thoughts and experiences.
Have you considered Hegel?
I have considered the h190 or h390. Is it neurotic that i dont want an internal DAC in the IA? I don’t know too much about the Hegel sound, but folks seem to like their ability to drive most speakers…
Anyone have any experience with the H390 or h590?
There’s probably a message I wrote here somewhere saying I’d rather pay less for a Hegel without the DAC. Forcing you to go with separates to skip the DAC isn’t great. That said, I love their sound. The 390 is supposed to be the sweet spot of price/performance.
Call Glen over at Arizona HiFi http://tubeaudio.com/ and see if he has any used Luxman units in stock or anything of similar quality at your price range he might recommend. Nothing to lose but a few minutes of your time. 
Good luck!
Hey guys!
I am planning to build a JCAT audio PC, but I wanted to see if there was anything that would be better like a music server. Looking for it to do these things though:
Controlled via display, mouse & keyboard like a PC
Access Hi-Res audio via Qobuz or Tidal
Let me go to YouTube and watch music videos
Use EqualizerAPO for EQ
Basically something that can receive compands via PC over network so that it’s not directly linked to the PC. I am unaware of such a product.
Here are all the components I am planning to use for said audio PC:
JCAT ATX Linear PSU for PC: OPTIMO S ATX - JCAT . next-gen computer audio
JCAT USB Card: USB Card XE - JCAT . next-gen computer audio
JCAT Network Card: NET Card XE - JCAT . next-gen computer audio
JCAT Femto SSD: M.2 FEMTO SSD - JCAT . next-gen computer audio
Fully Passive cooling so no fans
Integrated CPU graphics so no GPU
I can’t think of a much better implementation. The ATX Linear PSU also has dedicated 5V & 12V out for something like a Matrix X-Spdif 3 or I can go with a higher end DDC also.
Thoughts?
Windows Remote Desktop Service (RDP) should tick all the boxes for you and it’s built in to Windows.
From a physical standpoint I would use some type of Sorbathane mounting of the MB to reduce as much vibration as you can.
Why not a modded fanless NUC? What am I missing?
I could, but I thought this would be of higher sound quality?
So does that work with music servers or streamers? Looking for a way to control one of those via PC instead of using a PC itself.
It’s a way for you to use one computer (presumably your noisy one, a windows laptop or whatever) to log in and view a desktop profile on your clean server/streamer PC. So you’re effectively creating a user profile desktop on the server/streamer that you’ll see on your laptop display as an RDP application.
It’s only cleaner if your goal is to connect this Server PC directly to your DAC or DDC via its JDAC USB out. It’s certainly a solution and sans the Windows environment companies like Antipode and Grim audio follow this same philosophy in their offerings.
Otherwise without that direct connection it won’t be cleaner but certainly costlier. You’ll also want to address the power supply clean, filter or externally isolate the hell out of it.
Ok that’s what I thought you were talking about. However, at that point why not just use the audio PC and bypass the laptop?
I’m confused now, I thought this meant you wanted to control that PC remotely without being on it?
I guess I wasn’t clear in my questions, that’s on me.
Is there anything out there that would be of higher SQ than a PC, but still offer the controls and options that a PC brings to the table? I don’t enjoy using my phone via app control. I prefer more typical PC controls like a monitor/TV display and mouse/keyboard. I also enjoy going to YouTube for music videos and for music that just isn’t on streaming services like Qobuz/Tidal. Also enjoy EqualizerAPO for EQ adjustment.
I can’t think of anything that can do all that except a PC. In that case is there anything better than a dedicated JCAT audio PC like above?
Happy I clicked the link for the power supply. It’s €5500!?!? I’d get a used Antipodes K50 and figure out the YouTube playback in a different way 
I’m not familiar with JCAT, it might be as high end as it gets. It’s a similar design approach to all the streamers I know of from a component perspective. If it runs Windows than maybe it is your best option.
I plan on using the JCAT USB Card and also looking into a DDC as well. As for the PSU, it would be a dedicated linear power supply that has PC/ATX outputs on the back. About the best you can do with a PC.
There are cheaper options out there. HDPLEX has one here: HDPLEX-Fanless-500W-ATX-Linear-Power-Supply-with-Modular-ATX-Output
Hell yeah. This guy.
